Walter M. Norkin

Walter Norkin is a veteran trial attorney and former senior federal prosecutor who leads Akrivis’s Transnational Crime Defense practice. With nearly two decades of experience at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and an extensive track record of high-profile cases, Mr. Norkin represents individuals, executives, and companies facing serious criminal and civil exposure—often in matters that cross borders and command government and media attention.

‍

Mr. Norkin’s practice focuses on white collar defense, global financial crimes, and cross-border investigations involving fraud, money laundering, corruption, sanctions, and cryptocurrency enforcement. He regularly defends clients before the U.S. DOJ, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), in addition to advising multinational companies on navigating compliance strategies vis-à-vis OFAC, anti-money laundering (AML), and FCPA risk.

‍

Prior to joining Akrivis, Mr. Norkin served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) and later the Southern District of Florida (Miami), where he led headline-grabbing prosecutions against international drug cartels, senior political figures, financial fraudsters, and multinational corporations. His work includes the prosecution of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, money laundering schemes involving Central American elites, market manipulation by rogue executives and brokers, and FCPA violations by global financial institutions.

‍

As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Norkin rose to leadership as Chief of the International Narcotics & Money Laundering Section and Deputy Chief of the Business & Securities Fraud Section in Brooklyn, managing sprawling investigations across multiple U.S. agencies and foreign jurisdictions. His courtroom record includes dozens of trials, appellate arguments before the Second and Eleventh Circuits, and numerous OCDETF awards recognizing his impact in combatting organized crime and transnational criminal networks.

‍

Earlier in his career, Mr. Norkin practiced at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, where he worked on complex civil and class action litigation. He also clerked for the Hon. Richard J. Holwell in the Southern District of New York.

‍

Mr. Norkin frequently appears on Spanish-language media—including Univision and A Las Cinco—to discuss U.S. criminal justice and constitutional law. He is also co-author of the U.S. chapter in Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations (9th ed.), focusing on parallel civil litigation.